Last night’s first ever Charm City Night Market Festival was so epic. It was an honor to be part of such a momentous and symbolic part of history for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in Baltimore. This festival will forever be a game changer in our city. I can’t believe how many people came out to support the amazing musicians, artists and food vendors. I never expected the crowd to be so big, and they were equally energized! It was a sea of people celebrating and sharing culture—and having a blast—all night long.
Shoutout to Stephanie Hsu and the The Chinatown Collective for all their dedication and hard work in putting this momentous event together!
I met so many inspiring, talented people and have a plethora of new collaborations coming up, thanks to this gathering. Get ready for a ton of young, politically minded Asian American creatives to start making waves in this city.
Some things I learned after last night’s festival:
1. I really enjoy emceeing events and am getting more comfortable doing it. It’s my favorite way to experience an event. You get to watch each act from the best seats in the house and there is a camaraderie felt between all the musical acts, artists, food vendors, organizers, and everyone else behind the scenes. If you love networking like I do, then it’s the perfect icebreaker because you will be talking to people all night long.
2. Bring your own toilet paper for the porta potties.
3. If you can, always get the VIP tickets at any festival. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Until I got involved with this event, I had no idea that Baltimore even had a Chinatown. It turns out, historic Chinatown runs along Park Avenue downtown, across from Lexington Market. Katherine “Kitty” Chin was among one of the many Chinese residents that lived and worked in the neighborhood at its economic and commercial apex. She arrived in Baltimore in the 1930s and with her late husband, Calvin Chin, opened and managed the Chinatown grocery store and taught Chinese cooking classes inside.
In the 1960s, everything changed for Chinatown. Because of rising racial tensions during the civil rights movement, many residents began moving away from downtown and into the suburbs. The riots of 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., resulted in a mass exodus from the neighborhood, leaving it a ghost town.
Kitty and her husband stayed on and in the 1980s, they made their first attempt to revitalize the area and rebrand it as “Asiantown,” an inclusive area for residents of all Asian backgrounds. They envisioned a museum, medical center and a colorful pagoda on Park Avenue that would serve as a neighborhood entrance. For the Chins, the ambitious idea was a way to bring visibility to a population they felt was often overlooked. (Wesley Case, The Baltimore Sun)
Fast forward to present day. When Charm City Night Market organizer Stephanie Hsu moved to Baltimore and met Kitty, she was inspired by her story and vision for the old Chinatown neighborhood. Stephanie decided to pick up where Kitty left off. She and the other members of the Chinatown Collective, a group of 8 young Asian Americans from Baltimore, started organizing the first ever Charm City Night Market, which was a music and food festival based on the famous night markets of Asia, particularly Hong Kong, Bangkok and Manila.
I believe the timing is ripe for this festival and revitalization of the neighborhood. In recent years among Asian Americans, especially second-generation millennials in their 20s and 30s like myself, there is a strong desire to reconnect with our ethnic and cultural roots and shape identities for ourselves.
With Asian Americans in the spotlight for much of the summer of 2018 and after the release of the blockbuster film, Crazy Rich Asians, we see momentum as we push for more visibility, recognition and appreciation of our beautiful cultural legacies. I am truly honored to be a part of the effort.
All photos except for the first two are by Joe Portugal.
Check out this amazing recap video by the super talented Justin Chen.
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I usually do a write up of the events I’ve organized or hosted and my most-read articles at the end of the year. This was an unusual year (obviously, there is no need to go into it here) so I didn’t bother. Instead I want to highlight a project of mine that I am particularly proud of — it’s my new podcast show, Unverified Accounts, that I cohost with my frequent collaborators, Chris Jesu Lee and Filip Guo. If you're a big movie/TV/book buff, have leftist sympathies, but can't stand 'wokeness' dumbing down our culture, then we're the podcast for you. So far in our 25 episodes, we’ve covered a range of contentious topics.